University of Florida researchers have identified a drug compound that dramatically lowers blood pressure, improves heart function and — in a remarkable finding — prevents damage to the heart and kidneys in rats with persistent hypertension.

The findings, which appear in today’s (May 1) edition of the American Heart Association journal Hypertension, could lead to a new class of antihypertensive drugs designed to address two major problems associated with cardiovascular disease: high blood pressure and the tissue damage associated with it, known as fibrosis.

“When people have heart attacks (or suffer from hypertension) the blood vessels get more rigid,” said study author David Ostrov, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the UF College of Medicine’s department of pathology, immunology and laboratory medicine. “We discovered a compound that reverses the fibrosis that makes the blood vessels more rigid.” … Continue Reading »